The final stages of purification in classical yoga

This paper attempts to clarify the processes undergone by the yoga practitioner in the later stages of purification according to the classical Yoga of Patañjali. Through a process termed the sattvification of consciousness, the mental processes of the yogin are remolded, reshaped and restructured leading to a transformation of the mind and its functioning. The mind thus can be seen not only as a vehicle of spiritual ignorance, but of liberating knowledge culminating in authentic identity. Yoga philosophy, far from negating or suppressing human nature, has profound implications for psychological improvement and an embodied understanding of freedom and human integrity.